Telecaster Minimalism | One Tele, One Amp and One OD for EVERYTHING

I plugged a Telecaster into a Fender Blues Junior. I quickly found out why there was just a minimal amount of control nobs . I did not need them . That sweet spot was there . I could play and sound with just my own emotions - sweet and mellow to a dirty grind . All with the same settings. WOW .

Once ya' go Telecaster, ya' don't go back.

The only thing better than this setup is a Tele straight into an amp.

now chuck the drive pedal

I played 11's for a very long time... never broke a string. I'm down to 9's now, and still don't break strings... I attribute it to maturity... I don't pick as hard, don't loose myself in the moment. I'm using round profile slanted barrels... Loving my stock pup '52 reissue, pine body, treble bleed, 1 Meg volume pot... and yes, a Tele does it all.

To me, minimalism is one Telecaster, one cable, and a reverb-equipped amp set to break up at high volume. Maybe a headstock tuner, for convenience. Volume and tone controls, and pickup selector do the rest.

I traded cheap gear for a $169 Bullet Telecaster, bought a Marshall MG15 CDR for $50 from Goodwill and $50 Digitech RP-50. That is minimalism.

Love this concept. The tone, in the end, IS in your hands.

Great video and concept!!

Yep an old tele through a 3x10 tweed bandmaster is hard to beat- especially with a strymon flint

Great playing....I played most of my career with one analog delay and an amp....now I have quite a few but my favorite is probably my GE7 Q pedal. I play a 335 but this year picked up a black guard tele that I love.

Totally agree. I still drag a super and a deluxe reverb around and run my board through it . One day I’ll dial it down but I still enjoy the head room added by the super.

What a great lesson.

Love it 🤘🏼

Love my Telecaster. But still have arguments with my Strat. Oh well. I play through a Supro Dixie King 12 with a touch of reverb. Nice video. Thanks for mentioning Roy and Nancy.

I have a very similar rig, Baja Telecaster, into a mad professor sweet honey clone and a hybrid fender amp, is called a champ 25, huge twin like cleans from a 1x12. Only difference is I got a cheap tremolo pedal too! EHX pulsar. Can't go without those sweet tones for ballads and waltz time etc!

Tab Benoit I believe plays a tele thinline straight into the amp.

I'm at the exact same point in my playing. Tele -> Nobels -> Amp is where I'm at.

Yes sir. Like all or most Tele guys, I spent most of my time lugging around 2 tube amps and ton of pedals. As I got older and wiser...well really just lazier. I started stripping back first to just one amp and eventually no pedals. I have to run an amp with a gain and volume. I just set the gain to bring me into SRV territory if I dime my volume knob. Just roll her back for clean. My homemade Tele is really an Esquire bridge only. I run a lefty bridge to angle the pickup opposite. I find that makes the lows more snappy and takes the icepick out of the highs. It works for me. That is my sound. So, when I do side gigs they get my sound for better or worse. Minimalist or Laziness 😂 👍

Very nice! I've done a few tours this year already where I just brought a JV tele with 11s, a little pedaltrain riser board like yours with a peterson mini tuner and a strymon deco, and a milkman combo. If it's a quick gig or we're hopping on stage with the headliner then I'll typically leave the mini board in my gear bag and just go straight in, but that deco gives me a little boost if I really need it and also lets me do some slapback and flange tones based on the artist I'm with.